Posts Tagged ‘buy a home’
Some Useful Tips for Buying a Home
Thinking about buying a home? It’s a good idea to get feedback from others who have experienced the different aspects of the home buying process.
For example, consider these home buyer tips for more insight:
Pre-approved for maximum price – A mortgage pre-approval can save time and effort in your home search, and tells others that you are ready and able to buy. It determines your maximum price range based on credit scores, income, and funds to close.
Protect your deposit money – A home buyer depends on a good real estate agent to make sure all the bases are covered. An agent can write contingency clauses in a purchase offer to protect a buyer’s deposit money if the offer needs to be withdrawn.
Buying a condo with an FHA loan – A condominium project must be FHA approved in order to get an FHA loan. If the condo project is not approved, the FHA spot loan program is designed to provide home loans to buy an individual condo.
Financing with credit issues – An FHA mortgage makes it easier for buyers to qualify, including lower credit scores than a conventional loan. A previous bankruptcy only needs to be discharged for 2 years, and open collection accounts may not have to be paid off.
Check credit report errors – Credit errors can reduce credit scores. A reported credit dispute must be investigated and confirmed by the credit bureaus within 30 days of a consumer reporting an error. Providing support documentation can help expedite the process.
Lowest down payment – An FHA loan offers financing with 3.5% down payment, which is the lowest down payment for a first time home buyer loan, other than a VA loan. All or part of the down payment can be a documented gift from a close relative.
Potential cost savings – Some conventional lenders and all FHA lenders will allow the seller of a property to pay up to 6% of the home purchase price to be contributed to a home buyer’s total closing costs.
Figuring a debt ratio – The following monthly payments are normally counted along with a new mortgage payment to calculate the back-end debt ratio for qualifying: credit card minimums, car loans, student loans, personal loans, alimony, child support, tax liens.
Tax and insurance impounds – An impound account is money that’s collected at closing, and each month with your loan payment to be set aside in reserve to pay property taxes and insurance. It’s usually required when buying a home with less than 20% down.
Short term mortgage savings – If you plan to keep your home for less than five years, you could save money on a lower rate by getting a hybrid mortgage that has a fixed rate for the first 5 years, and then converts to an adjustable rate.
Zero point loan option – Many home buyers need to have the lowest closing costs. Lenders usually provide the option of decreasing the loan points by increasing the rate. If a home buyer pays zero points for a loan, the mortgage rate and loan payment will increase.
Opening new credit accounts – Applying for a new credit card or financing the purchase of a car or other item before or during the mortgage process can cause credit scores to decrease and debt ratios to increase, which can affect mortgage qualifying.
Changing jobs or careers – If you plan on making a job change, especially if the change involves sales commission or a different line of work, it is better to wait until after your mortgage loan has funded to avoid creating a qualifying problem.
Mortgage rates on a home mortgage, also, prices and information on new homes in California
Slow Housing Market
In this housing market, it is much harder to sell a home than it is to buy a home. If you are in the market to sell your home, then you are likely to have to lower your price to compete in the market. Homes are on the market for many months before they are sold nowadays. A lot of them are never sold and the homeowners have to let them be foreclosed on because the monthly mortgage payments are simply too large.
Pricing is everything in a buyers’ market. Buyers will often do a lot of research and shop around looking at homes in the neighborhoods that they want to live in. It is fairly likely that there will be a few homes on the market in any area that they are looking at. Eventually, it often comes down to the price. The lower the price of the home, the faster the home will sell. Many homeowners lower their prices so much in order to sell their homes fast. You can get a free home valuation so that you know what price you can set your home at. If you have a potential buyer interested in buying your home, then make sure that you the deal is as attractive as possible, because the chances are that, if you do not, your neighbors might.
When investing, buying or selling, you may want to get a real estate agent to help you. If you buy or sell through a realtor then you will have to pay a fee which is a percentage of the price of the home. You will want to find a realtor that knows your market and can bring you good homes or deals. Some people work with one realtor whereas others work with a couple. While you can sell or buy a home yourself, a realtor can offer many services that may help you. Nowadays, a lot of million dollar homes are sold for substantially less than their original prices. First time home buyers find that they can get into a home for as little as a few thousand dollars a home. It is definitely a good time to buy and invest in real estate if you have the resources to do so.